Are you sure they are actually asking to friend you? Facebook now "suggests" friends who are on your friends friend list and it can look as if they are asking but if you click accept request you will be the one requesting them. If they are actually asking you then it is not rude to decline their request. My husband is now friends with several distant relatives due to this misunderstanding, with them probably thinking "who is he? but Ok, click."

Are you sure they are actually asking to friend you? Facebook now "suggests" friends who are on your friends friend list and it can look as if they are asking but if you click accept request you will be the one requesting them. If they are actually asking you then it is not rude to decline their request. My husband is now friends with several distant relatives due to this misunderstanding, with them probably thinking "who is he? but Ok, click."

It's all so possible it was a mistake. Just this morning I was looking at the "suggested Friends" list, and accidently friended someone when I meant to look at the "friends in common" list.

You don't have to accept these friend request and if you accidentally friend some one you can recall the request by going to their page and canceling it.

Are you sure they are actually asking to friend you? Facebook now "suggests" friends who are on your friends friend list and it can look as if they are asking but if you click accept request you will be the one requesting them. If they are actually asking you then it is not rude to decline their request. My husband is now friends with several distant relatives due to this misunderstanding, with them probably thinking "who is he? but Ok, click."

This is very possible. It's hugely annoying--like how Facebook also sometimes nags you to RSVP to stuff you weren't even invited to, if the privacy settings are set wrong.

They also may just be really gregarious people who like to add friends-of-friends. Just ignore if you don't want to friend them.

Yeah, I would double check and make sure that they are actual friends request and not just suggestions made by facebook. But if they are actual requests, just decline them. I don't think it's rude to send a request though.

There aren't very many people with my first and last name, but every once in a while I get a request even though I have my high school and university on my profile.

I usually send a PM politely saying I don't know the requester and suggesting that I am the wrong Luci. Once I got an '"Oops! I'm sorry. Looking for someone else letter", but the rest of the time they never request again.

I have heard that this technique is also used by spammers and other nefarious types. Did I hear correctly?

Maybe, but I wouldn't assume that the "Friends" of my "Friends" were "Friendding" me for nefarious purposes. In my experience, it's pretty typical for people to do this to expand their circles. For some people, Facebook is more fun the more "friends" you have.

It might not be exactly rude, but it can feel odd to get a request from a total stranger.

What I find very irritating are friend requests from people who may not be complete strangers (maybe we knew each other many years ago, or went to the same school) who assume I'm supposed to know who they are. I got one request from someone who went to my high school, but we didn't know each other, didn't have mutual friends, and I don't think we ever exchanged a single word. Maybe she's a very nice person, but I don't see the point in connecting with her.

Another request turned out to be someone I had known, but she didn't exactly go out of her way to make that clear to me. She's married, and goes by a name I never knew her by. She has no profile picture, and very little information available on her page if you are not already friends with her. And she sent no message saying "Hi, it's So and so, remember we were in Whatchamacallit club in high school together." I have no idea if she was being ditzy, or just assumed she's so important that I'd know who she was? I was able to figure out who she was based on her friends list and her occupation, but felt rather irked at having to do so. (OK, I didn't have to, but it was going to drive me nuts until I figured out!) So I did find this request somewhat rude.